I think this article is maybe 5 months too late in its prediction

I posted on this board last summer that after some of the Global Jam games that George could play point guard and that was not what was advertised.

BUCANDOIT82 said:

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I posted on this board last summer that after some of the Global Jam games that George could play point guard and that was not what was advertised.

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I think Fran said something during the past season about him ultimately being a point guard, but not yet. I think that potential is still there. Keyonte has top level passing skills and sees the court well. Two things that he will have to work on: He doesn't need to give up his shot, but there were times last year when everyone watching knew that if the ball came to him, he was never giving it up. Hopefully maturity will help with that (along with playing at a level where he doesn't need to dominate every point). The second problem is more immediate: Keyonte needs to develop a defensive discipline and he needs to do it now. Otherwise, he is going to end up as a part time offense-off-the-bench player, and not the all star he is capable of becoming.

They clearly drafted him to be their franchise PG and Utah will hand the keys to Key within the next week or two. Horton-Tucker is starting basically as a placeholder for them at PG and he is awful. Your analysis of Key's season for us is spot on. However he scultped his body once his Baylor season ended, got the ankle healthy and now looks a couple of steps quicker. Last year he was carrying about 10 lbs of baby fat and the ankle injury was the final nail in the coffin. I think some of us suffer from recency bias and have a bad taste in our mouths because of how bad he looked playing on a bum ankle. Physically and athletically he looks like a completely different guy than he was at Baylor. He will never be a plus defender but that is more easily hidden in the NBA. The rules against hand-checking have made the NBA game more of a free-flowing, offensive oriented game which suits Key's game much better than the big 12 grind.

Near triple dub last night....12 pts. 7 boards 6 assists 2 turnovers in 27 minutes. Will be starting PG within a week or 2, and won't look back.

Crawfoso1973 said:

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Near triple dub last night....12 pts. 7 boards 6 assists 2 turnovers in 27 minutes. Will be starting PG within a week or 2, and won't look back.

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Nice to see. Keyonte needs to stay healthy, work on developing his game, and keep his head up on a team that will undoubtedly compete for the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes.

Not gonna lie, it is bittersweet seeing him look so great at NBA level. I wish he would've come in last year this hungry and in shape. Our season would've had a different result.

NBA and college are very different.

Lively for Dallas has a career high of like 12 at Duke and scored 16 in just first game with the Mavs.

Sometimes it's a change of style, sometimes things just click a little later

Agreed, NBA much more suited to Key's playing style.

Crawfoso1973 said:

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They clearly drafted him to be their franchise PG and Utah will hand the keys to Key within the next week or two. Horton-Tucker is starting basically as a placeholder for them at PG and he is awful. Your analysis of Key's season for us is spot on. However he scultped his body once his Baylor season ended, got the ankle healthy and now looks a couple of steps quicker. Last year he was carrying about 10 lbs of baby fat and the ankle injury was the final nail in the coffin. I think some of us suffer from recency bias and have a bad taste in our mouths because of how bad he looked playing on a bum ankle. Physically and athletically he looks like a completely different guy than he was at Baylor. He will never be a plus defender but that is more easily hidden in the NBA. The rules against hand-checking have made the NBA game more of a free-flowing, offensive oriented game which suits Key's game much better than the big 12 grind.

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Great analysis. The clear physical differences between now and his time at Baylor is something that I was thinking about as well. He seems quicker and much stronger - he got a lot bigger, without getting slower. A lot of that is probably based on regimented diet and s&c program in offseason, some of that may just be his body maturing. We tend to forget that he was only 18,19 while at Baylor - his body will continue to develop and mature over the next several years.

NBA game absolutely suited for Key's talents.

Crawfoso1973 said:

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They clearly drafted him to be their franchise PG and Utah will hand the keys to Key within the next week or two. Horton-Tucker is starting basically as a placeholder for them at PG and he is awful. Your analysis of Key's season for us is spot on. However he scultped his body once his Baylor season ended, got the ankle healthy and now looks a couple of steps quicker. Last year he was carrying about 10 lbs of baby fat and the ankle injury was the final nail in the coffin. I think some of us suffer from recency bias and have a bad taste in our mouths because of how bad he looked playing on a bum ankle. Physically and athletically he looks like a completely different guy than he was at Baylor. He will never be a plus defender but that is more easily hidden in the NBA. The rules against hand-checking have made the NBA game more of a free-flowing, offensive oriented game which suits Key's game much better than the big 12 grind.

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This is a great post. One quibble. He was flat out bad on defense last year. The game in Austin he got beat badly on a few possessions and picked up dumb fouls on rotation because he was flat footed. I don't know who got to him but he's making an effort to be a respectable defender in Utah. I think you're right that he'll never be above replacement level on defense, but that's more than good enough with his offensive skill set.

I'm grateful for the year he had at Baylor and the better he does in Utah the better for us. That said, this is how Iowa State fans must have felt watching Purdy turn into Tom Brady once he got to the NFL (recent losses not withstanding).

Also, he's vertically much more explosive now. He looks slightly quicker now, but he's playing much more vertically than he did last year.

You do know he was the Big XII Freshman of the year. Sorry he didn't play like a Veteran to meet your expectations.

I fully agree with your flat-footed assessment. He would usually engage playing on the ball in half-court situations, and even drew his share of charges, but was horrible in transition D (sometimes even jogging back) and was even worse playing help-side D and off the ball. No situational awareness and often completely turned his back on the ball when it would swing to the other side of the court. I think his flaws can be more hidden and fixed at the NBA level with better defenders around him, as well as his improved maturity/strength/conditioning and athleticism

Getting his 1st NBA start tonight....

Good luck to George. I'll just say this year's team has me way more excited than last year's ever did.

9 assists indicates he'll get more chances!

https://www.slcdunk.com/latest-utah-jazz-news-recent/2023/11/8/23952941/keyonte-george-makes-john-hollingers-list-of-10-players-you-should-know-utah-jazz-news-rumors

Hollinger article linked within this article

EvilTroyAndAbed said:

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BaylorLit 01 said:

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Good luck to George. I'll just say this year's team has me way more excited than last year's ever did.

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I'll take backhanded compliments for $200 Alex.

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It wasn't all George's fault that we weren't better. I'm sure he would have played better offense with Yves Missi than Flo and a 70% healthy Jon. He'd probably still be lacking on the defensive end.

BaylorLit 01 said:

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EvilTroyAndAbed said:

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BaylorLit 01 said:

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Good luck to George. I'll just say this year's team has me way more excited than last year's ever did.

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I'll take backhanded compliments for $200 Alex.

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It wasn't all George's fault that we weren't better. I'm sure he would have played better offense with Yves Missi than Flo and a 70% healthy Jon. He'd probably still be lacking on the defensive end.

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Why these high schools continue to turn out players that can't defend at an elite college level, I will never understand/s

LIB,MR BEARS said:

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BaylorLit 01 said:

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EvilTroyAndAbed said:

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BaylorLit 01 said:

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Good luck to George. I'll just say this year's team has me way more excited than last year's ever did.

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I'll take backhanded compliments for $200 Alex.

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It wasn't all George's fault that we weren't better. I'm sure he would have played better offense with Yves Missi than Flo and a 70% healthy Jon. He'd probably still be lacking on the defensive end.

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Why these high schools continue to turn out players that can't defend at an elite college level, I will never understand/s

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There's a wide gulf between defending at a competent level and defending at an elite level. I don't think anyone asked or expected Keyonte to be an elite defender.

My bigger issue remains what an inefficient scorer he was. If you're going to be a turnstile on defense, you'd better be an elite offensive player, and Keyonte wasn't. But he's gone now, so best of luck to him in the future.

This year's team will be infinitely more fun to watch than last year's was.

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but he was Big XII Freshman of the year. So some of you may need to check your expectations.

BUCANDOIT82 said:

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I don't want to sound like a broken record, but he was Big XII Freshman of the year. So some of you may need to check your expectations.

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He shouldn't have been. Dick was a better player all year.

Adult me fighting with inner 4th grade me

LIB,MR BEARS said:

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Adult me fighting with inner 4th grade me

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Are you suggesting some on this board may not know...Gradey?

BUCANDOIT82 said:

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I don't want to sound like a broken record, but he was Big XII Freshman of the year. So some of you may need to check your expectations.

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Key was not as advertised toward the end of the season and in the Tournament. We were beaten in the round of 32. Never felt like he bought in to Baylor, as much as himself, but that's generally true with One and Dones. I believe Walter will prove to be different, though.

Yep. Recency bias is a real thing in human psychology.

LIB,MR BEARS said:

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Timbear said:

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BUCANDOIT82 said:

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I don't want to sound like a broken record, but he was Big XII Freshman of the year. So some of you may need to check your expectations.

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Key was not as advertised toward the end of the season and in the Tournament. We were beaten in the round of 32. Never felt like he bought in to Baylor, as much as himself, but that's generally true with One and Dones. I believe Walter will prove to be different, though.

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he was injured the second half of the year

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Yes

He wasn't quite the same after the ankle injury (I think it was ankle). Also I think we did put too much pressure on him to do hero ball as the whole team struggled at times.

Coming out party tonight.

This is elite level passing by a rookie. https://t.co/vr0ezZyrBS

— Jesse (@jdt_91) November 18, 2023